Are More Rats Than Usual Running Around the East Village?

As if it isn’t enough that we’re living through the summer of bedbugs, Gothamist is now wondering if the East Village has been hit with a ratdemic. In April, a scary number of rats were found on the Upper East Side, perhaps owing to the Second Avenue subway project. Now NY1 is telling the tale of a building on East 10th Street where there are suddenly rodents “in the halls, elevators, and ceilings all day and night.” (Ceilings!?!) Some rats in the building are even eating through the walls. “It’s so bad that certain people can’t even sleep because you’re terrified. I mean this lady had 24 rats in the front of her kitchen. How can you live like that?” said one tenant. This is, obviously, disgusting and unhealthy, but with all the bedbugs, the aphrodisiac heat waves, and now rats-gone-wild, this summer is starting to feel sort of Old New York–y, without the increased crime rate. [Gothamist]